


For All The Things My Eyes Have Seen

by Strawbebbi_Daiquiri



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Adopted Children, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Found Family, Idiots in Love, M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Character(s), Mutual Pining, Not Canon Compliant - Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Slow Burn, Tags to be added, but like after s2 e4, but not yet, dad!din, dad!luke, han/leia mentioned, jedi training for the baby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28326312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strawbebbi_Daiquiri/pseuds/Strawbebbi_Daiquiri
Summary: “He missed you.” The Jedi laughed. For a moment, Din didn’t respond, too wrapped up in the moment. Not that he probably would’ve responded anyways, but his focus was on the child in his arms. The feel of the other man’s stare, however, brought him back to where he was.----Or, the one where Luke and Din don't realize they're in love with each other for way too long and raise children together.
Relationships: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker
Comments: 68
Kudos: 563





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Just a heads up, I started writing this before season 2 finished. Like, waaaay back at the beginning of season 2 when I realized the Luke/ Din timelines added up and dragged my roommate headfirst into the (at the time) crack ship. But finals stopped me hard from finishing this first chapter till now. This is an AU past season 2 episode 4 because I don't want to fix the timeline I've established. This is a christmas gift for @hd_whales, who has put up with me and beta read this.

It had been a hard couple weeks. The days were long, both too busy and too empty. On a planet like this, densely populated with an active underworld, there was no shortage of work. But the days pressed longer with the notable absence of the small green child at his side. Din let out a sigh, once again in the comfort of his own ship. He knew it had been the right thing to do, letting the kid go with the Jedi, but knowing something is right and being okay with it were two different things. The hole in his life where Grogu fit was bigger than he thought it would be. The whole reason he had tried to keep his distance was to avoid this, but obviously he had failed along the way. There was no denying it, the kid was basically his son, and he missed him terribly. Recognizing that you have a family and having to give up that family all in the same moment made his heart ache more than he liked to admit, hurting more than he cared to process in those silent moments after watching the X-wing take off.

Too weary to worry about moving his ship, Din had barely removed his helmet before crashing into his makeshift bed, not caring how his armour would leave him stiff in the morning. Staying in one place so long was risky, not to mention remaining on the same planet for an extended period of time, but the constant target on his back was currently being outweighed by the sliver of hope that the Jedi would return; that he would bring his son, his only family, back to him. That wasn’t likely to happen though, at this point. It was nearing the end of two weeks, and he was starting to really doubt the Jedi’s offhand promise to return the child soon. “Basic training,” the man had said. Din knew he would have to move soon, hiding the _Razor Crest_ somewhere else if not getting off the planet entirely. But not tonight, tonight he wanted to rest. Sleep didn’t find him easy though, his tired thoughts racing.

Tomorrow, he promised, he would make a plan.

***

It had been three weeks since the Jedi had found them. The young man claimed he had been on the planet for personal business when he had felt Grogu calling out through the Force. Din was skeptical of this, liked to think it had more to do with his persistent searching and grilling everyone he came across about whether they knew any Jedi. But then again, he’d be the first to admit he didn’t know or care how “the Force” worked, beyond a small, selfish desire that he could’ve known enough to have trained his son, that he could’ve been what he needed. So that the child wouldn’t have had to use weird magic that he couldn’t possibly understand to call out to have a stranger take him away. Din sighed again. He had been doing that a lot lately.

***

The pressure to leave the planet kept growing. The _Razor Crest_ had been moved multiple times, but never too far. This would be the last time, he decided. Tomorrow, he would have to leave. Lately, it was always tomorrow. The thought of returning to his solitary life on the move seemed infinitely less appealing than it had before his quest had begun.

***

The thought of tracking down the Jedi and taking his kid back had crossed his mind more times than he could count in quiet moments. He could only hope that the Jedi would be able to track him down when, if, need be. Hoped that he would see his son again.

After a long day aiding whoever would pay, Din trudged back to his ship. He was looking forward to the quiet, trying to ignore the dread and the heaviness of it, looking instead to the comfort and security it used to- and continued to bring from the rush of people outside. As he approached the landing site though, he started. Then, he sped up, suddenly all exhaustion forgotten. Sitting next to the _Razor Crest_ was an X-wing, well maintained and worn from travel. More importantly though, was the blond figure sitting on the wing of it, and the small green bundle in his lap. He frowned under his helmet as the Jedi spotted him and hopped down from his perch, but Din rushed over to meet them despite his hesitations. Nerves gnawed the edge of his mind, he let it go though, allowing the barely concealed relief outweighed his concerns. Looking around, no one seemed injured, there were no immediate threats, and by the leisurely smile on the Jedi’s face, this wasn’t a life threatening meet up. The Jedi didn’t hesitate to hand Grogu over to him, and the relief of having his child in his arms must have shown as the other man just chuckled knowingly.

“He missed you.” The Jedi laughed. For a moment, Din didn’t respond, too wrapped up in the moment. Not that he probably would’ve responded anyways, but his focus was on the child in his arms. The feel of the other man’s stare, however, brought him back to where he was, staring at him expectantly and a bit nervously now, and tired, as though his mind was a million miles away. As though waiting for an answer to a question he hadn’t asked. Now that was a new look. Both times Din had met the man, he had seemed calm and generally content. The new emotion pulling at his face sent a flash of concern through him.

“What’s wrong?” _Why did you bring Grogu back to me,_ he didn’t voice the rest of the thought, a part of him worried the Jedi would change his mind, take the kid away again. The man blinked, as though shaken out of his thoughts for a moment.

“I have to head out; my sister called me.” He started, running his gloved hand through his hair. “New Republic business, always is. Figured I’d drop this little gremlin back off with you before I head straight for trouble.” He looked down smiling ruefully, as though laughing at some inside joke Din wasn’t privy to. What kind of trouble could this guy possibly get in? Din looked down to the child in his arms, who had seemed so happy to see him but was now looking intently at the Jedi. The two made eye contact, and words seemed to pass unspoken between them. The man nodded, and sighed, smiling warmly at Din.

“You both take care of each other. Hopefully I’ll see you again sometime soon.” With that, the Jedi turned to go, heading back towards his X-wing and now beeping droid. Din just stood there, watching him go. Wondering if he’d see the man again. He wanted to ask if he would be okay, but really, it was none of his business. The only thing that was his concern was in his arms or on his ship. But that didn’t stop his curiosity, or the vague concern at the edge of his mind.

“What kind of business could you possibly have with the New Republic?” Din asked suddenly, calling after him. Did they have Jedi in the New Republic? Was this guy a mercenary? Was he going to be okay? He didn’t want to get tangled up with even more politics, but it was worth asking. The Jedi just laughed.

“I’m Luke Skywalker.” He said with a shrug as he turned to leave, hopping back up on his X-wing.

Din frowned. Was that supposed to mean something to him?


	2. The Beacon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Din continues to not know anyone name on the first try.  
> Updates won't always be this fast, Work was just really slow today.

The next time Luke Skywalker popped up was about a month and a half later. He touched down in the same X-wing as before, and Din couldn’t help but wonder if all the New Republic pilots could just take their fighters wherever and whenever. This somehow didn’t feel like New Republic business.

He was a bit wary as the ship touched down next to the _Razor Crest_ in the clearing, he honestly hadn’t been sure that the Jedi was coming back. It would’ve been just as easy for him if the man had never reappeared. But, Grogu seemed excited at the sight of Luke, and that was good enough for Din. Someone who both made his son happy _and_ wasn’t trying to shoot him was better than he could say about most of his company in recent days.

Things hadn’t improved too much since Din had gotten his son back, besides him being in a much better mood. There was, as had always been since he acquired a child, a steady stream of bounty hunters and Imperial troopers at the ready to shoot first and ask questions later. Or he had just pissed someone off somehow. The two of them had gotten lucky so far, escaping each conflict with what could be considered (at least in his books) as minor scrapes. But this luck couldn’t last forever; sooner or later things were going to go south. He could hope that the imperials would get bored eventually, but that didn’t seem likely. If they were willing to give up, they would’ve done so already after chasing him from planet to planet. No, this was going to be something he would have to actively deal with, and soon.

Tracking down Moff Gideon was proving harder than he’d have suspected, if he hadn’t already tried. Maybe he would have an easier time tracking down those other Mandalorians. Perhaps they had gotten closer in their quest to finding the man. But he quickly dismissed that thought every time. If they had managed to track down the Moff, he would be dead by now. Or at least, Din would’ve heard about a few Mandalorians dying. Probably.

Maybe.

It didn’t seem like he knew much about what was going on with other Mandalorians these days.

Right at the moment though, Din had to focus on the problem at hand. And that was Luke’s blue droid who was beeping incessantly at him. He had no idea what he had done to offend the thing, and he certainly had no idea what it was yelling about. It was certainly making it harder to focus on what the Jedi was telling him, though. The man’s words at least didn’t seem to urgent, but-

No, wait-

_What was that about Imperial beacons?_

Din looked up from where he had been glaring at the R2 unit, shocked.

“What?” The Jedi blinked at him, then frowned and took a moment to hush his droid, putting a gloved hand atop the machine, which calmed after one last indignant squawk.

“I said,” he started again, “you know you have an imperial tracking beacon beaming off your ship, right?” Din narrowed his eyes, feeling his blood go cold. That explained a lot.

“You sure?” The question was pointless, judging by the serious expression on the other’s face. Grogu had stilled in his arms, his ears drooping, no longer reaching his little hands out towards the newcomer. The Jedi answered anyway.

“Pretty sure,” he sighed. “We were intercepting signals and found this lone one way out here. That’s how I found you. Sort of.”

“Sort of?” Din was still frowning.

“Yes, well I was heading this way anyways when they asked me to check it out. You,” he indicated towards the child, “are quite loud in the Force, my little friend.”

They both just lapsed into silence for a moment, Luke likely waiting for an answer. Instead though, Din just turned around and headed quickly towards his ship. He hadn’t noticed anything unusual, obviously, but honestly with all the damage the _Razor Crest_ had taken recently, he wasn’t surprised he’d missed something. He never imagined that he’d miss something as serious as this, though.

Where was it even?

He frowned as he entered the ship. Where would he even start? He could check down the whole thing outside, but for a tracking beacon to have gone unnoticed for so long? It was probably well hidden on board somewhere. The idea that someone had been messing with his ship while he was gone put a bad taste in his mouth. This was going to take all day. At least. He set Grogu down, giving his head a reassuring pat when the child cooed sadly.

“Can I help?”

Din turned, having almost managed to forget about the Jedi in his panic. He was standing by the entry way, looking for permission to come on and help out. That was… strangely considerate. He didn’t like having people on his ship, in his home. Usually, the people who did find themselves on board were either bounties destined for carbonite, or equally unwanted guests. Occasionally he hosted unwilling allies that had come to his aid, but not often. Did he want this guy in his ship? He had already trusted him with his son, and that was much more precious to him than any ship could be, home or not.

Din nodded. “Any Jedi tricks to know where this thing is?”

***

In the end, it took them hours of searching to find it. Din was honestly surprised that Luke stayed and helped search the whole time. Together, and to the great amusement of Grogu, they had turned the ship upside down. They opened panels that probably could use more maintenance than they ever had received, looked through boxes, and in any accessible wiring outlets. The search really brought to light how bad a shape his ship was in despite recent repairs. His guest had obviously tried to restrain himself and be polite, but even he hadn’t been able to resist making the occasional comment about the state of the _Razor Crest._ The man had taken pause when he saw the freezing chamber, but had shaken it off quickly. Din made a note of that reaction, saving his curiosity for another day. Instead, they worked mostly in silence, with Luke occasionally breaking it to ask a question or to idly chatter. Never important, but his presence made the whole task seem a bit easier, lighter.

Now the question remained of what to do with the thing. Din had wanted to just turn it off, destroy it. Luke however, argued that they should set a trap. That one was met with hesitance, Din wasn’t feeling too great about the concept of using his kid as bait, not to mention they would have no guarantee if Moff Gideon would actually show up or if he would just keep sending more troops. The other man had nodded to that, his hand on his chin in thought. In the end, they had talked down to rerouting the locations transmission. That way, Luke argued, there was more time to make a proper plan without the constant threat. But a plan would be needed, and soon. It wasn’t going to take long for the remnants of the Empire to realize they were being fooled.

With that tentatively settled, and both parties feeling calmer, Luke started a fire. He had invited him to eat with him, but Din had declined as usual, instead retreating to his ship to make sure Grogu was taken care of, and to find something to eat for himself. Over the distance, he could hear the man talking, making jokes and comments to his droid, presumably getting an answer, laughing as the fire crackled. It sounded comfortable, easy.

By the time he had returned outside to the fire, Grogu had already waddled over to the Jedi’s side. The man seemed more than happy to entertain him. He responded to the kid’s grabbing hands and intense stare with words and laughter. The sight dispelled any lingering anxiety Din felt. The topic of more training had been brought up while searching for the beacon. He wasn’t super enthusiastic about it, but who was he to deny his son? And so far, Luke hadn’t seemed to be a threat; hell, he wasn’t sure if he even knew how to fight beyond having an X-wing. As he joined them at the fire, it once again occurred to Din that he hadn’t needed to help him disable the signal. He could’ve just left him to it, going about his Jedi business. The fact that he had offered his help so willingly and easily wasn’t lost on him.

“So, I was hoping I could work with Grogu here in the morning?” Luke addressed him, turning from the firelight, his eyes reflecting the warm light. “If you’re planning on sticking around for a bit that is?” The question hung in the air for a moment, as Din looked at his child, in the lap of the other man, who looked back at him with big eyes trying to convey the world. The threat of discovery was looming, but for now it was an averted crisis, there was no good reason not to indulge Grogu except to satisfy his own nerves.

He sighed, then he nodded.

“I suppose we could stick around for a few days,” he said slowly, “gives me a chance to refuel and restock.”

The smile he got in return from Luke was brighter than the calm fire between them. Din knew this was the right choice.


	3. The Calm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter where I project my feelings about the Jedi on Luke. Beta read as always by my lovely roommate HD_Whales. Come find me on tumblr, under the same name, if you wanna chat!  
> :EDIT: I'm reposting this chapter because I found big typo and took the opportunity to reword a couple things. I want to be clear I don't disagree with Jedi teachings or think they're wrong, but I stand by the fact that I don't think they always teach them in the best ways. I'm a casual starwars fan just having feelings.

Din would learn over the next few mornings that Luke had a very specific set of morning routines. Ones he did early. Very early. Sure, the previous day hadn’t been the most strenuous, but he still hadn’t expected to be woken a decent amount of time before the sun even teased rising. Din didn’t make a habit of sleeping in either, but this seemed a little much. Never one to be a heavy sleeper, he was drawn from sleep by the noises of the Jedi going about his business. Before heading out to see what the commotion was, he checked Grogu. The child was hard asleep in his little hammock, frowning gently at being disturbed by Din, but otherwise not stirring. He found his way outside, peering around. His eyes found Luke in the predawn mist. The man in question was doing a set of stretches, looking like he was going to go for a run or something. He chatted idly with the droid which beeped back, wiggling noisily in response occasionally. Din watched for a moment as he finished up from the darkness in front of his ship. He had no doubt the Jedi knew he was there, his armour catching brightly in the large full moon that circled this forested planet, so when he looked over, still chatting to his droid, before rolling into a seemingly effortless handstand, Din was begrudgingly impressed. Which he assumed was the intended outcome based on the small wink the Jedi threw him.

Din knew he could turn around and try to return to sleep. He was certainly exhausted enough to. But sleep never found him easily, so instead he walked over to the center of the clearing where Luke had set up camp.

“Do you _always_ sleep in full armour or am I just special?” Luke joked from his upside down position. If he expected an answer, he was going to be disappointed. Luckily, the silence didn’t seem to bother him much as he didn’t let it deter him for long.

“Right, no I get it, sometimes you just have to make a cool dramatic entrance,” he said, “standing ominously in the corner and all that. Good morning by the way.” He maneuvered himself back to his feet, standing to face Din.

He was heading for a run, as Din had guessed, and asked if he wanted to join him.

“No.” _I know we deactivated the beacon, but I still have anxiety about leaving Grogu alone._ That was the full answer, but sometimes just a simple “no” worked. Which it did. Luke shrugged, smiling easily as he finished his stretches, obviously not offended by the negative response.

“Alrighty, I’ll leave you to it then. Be back soon!” With that announcement, he took off towards the trees.

Leaving the blue droid, who turned to beep at him aggressively.

“What’s your deal?” Din asked, annoyed. The droid, being a droid, didn’t answer. Instead, it banged its way into his shin before turning and heading towards the X-wing. Din sighed. This was also going to be a long day.

***

The sun had finally risen by the time Grogu had waddled his way out of the _Razor Crest_. Making his way over to where Din sat, he cooed gently as he munched his way through what looked like a cookie. Well, at least it wasn’t some poor local wildlife this time, though cookies weren’t exactly what a growing (Din was pretty sure he _was_ growing) child needed.

“Nice of you to join us. Whatcha got there?” he asked, stopping what he was doing to pick up Grogu. Yep, definitely a cookie. Where did he keep finding those? The child just babbled contentedly, the reached his hands out towards the gun laying partially disassembled on the ground in front of him.

Luke had already returned and had immediately gone over to make some god awful clanging noise on his fighter. “Basic maintenance,” he had said. Every scrape of metal as he worked on his ship was a loud reminder to Din about his own ship’s condition. But that was a problem for another day. Instead, it prompted him to check on the state of his weaponry. They were in sore need of some tlc and it had been longer than he cared to admit since he had found the time to clean them properly. The Armourer would have his head if she could see the state they were in. He gently pulled the child’s hands away from the pieces. He couldn’t afford for any of them to become Grogu’s latest favourite plaything. Grogu let out a whining noise, looking up at him with big eyes.

“No.” He said, firmly. He wasn’t going to cave again, he wasn’t. Oh, but it was tempting, with those too big eyes looking up at him sadly. Not this time though, Din held his son’s gaze. The staring contest was broken when Grogu’s attention was captured by something else. Luke had finally finished whatever it was he was doing, standing up straight and taking a step back to admire his work. He wiped the back of his wrist against his brow. Grogu deemed this much more interesting than not being allowed to play with deadly weaponry, and Din thanked the stars that he was easily distracted. He was never going to win against those baby eyes. The child wiggled out of his lap, and started to make his way over to Luke, who in turn started towards them. He met Grogu by kneeling down to be closer to his height, and just started chatting with him. Asking him questions, pausing, the continuing on as if he got an answer. It was both endearing and confusing, an odd way to talk to a child. From what he could follow, Luke was trying to decide what kind of mood the kid was in. And the answer apparently, was a mood for meditation.

Luke scooped up Grogu and brought him over to the unlit firepit. Settling down cross legged, he placed the small child across from him.

“Now remember,” he started seriously, looking at the child, “it’s okay to get frustrated. We’re still learning here, and you’ll get those thoughts reigned in eventually.” Grogu cooed back, quieter than usual.

Din watched for a while as Luke guided Grogu’s thoughts and actions into meditation. It was odd, the Jedi speaking calmly about letting go and talking the child through the process. The aforementioned frustration occasionally showed on Grogu’s face, his green brow wrinkling in anger, but Luke managed to wrangle those emotions, guiding him back with comforting words and patience. It was fascinating; Din tried to not let himself be caught staring for too long, choosing to focus again on his guns.

***

Later, after a series of odd half conversations he couldn’t quite follow about moral lessons he wasn’t sure he was qualified to care about, Din had found a thought nagging at him.

“Can you… Does he talk to you? Can you understand him?” Din wasn’t sure if he wanted the answer. Luke looked up from the datapad he was typing on, surprised.

“Not really. He’s very loud in the Force, he sort of projects things loudly at me, ideas, disjointed feelings.” He answered after a moment’s thought.

“You can read minds?” Luke laughed briefly at that.

“No way, that would be exhausting. I mean,” his brow furrowed pensively for a moment, “maybe if I had more training for that specifically, but I’ve never actually heard of it. No, it’s more like he’s putting his thoughts out there into the universe and I’m choosing to pick them up and listen. Sort of like tuning a radio. We’ve been working on it.”

There was silence for a moment, Din trying to imagine what it would be like. The Force was strange, and often times sounded fake. But this one made some sense, at least.

“He has a lot of fear.” Luke said softly, then hesitated before continuing. Din looked at him sharply. “I can’t say for sure what it is, but he has so much of it. If my master was the one training him, I have no doubt what he would say about it. That he shouldn’t be trained, that there was too much anger and fear, and that leads to the darkside. It’s happened before, so I understand it.” He went quiet for a moment, seemingly choosing his next words carefully.

“The Jedi way is to acknowledge your emotions and to let them go, which he’s struggling with. It’s something to work on definitely, and something to be worked on expressing in healthy ways, but anger and fear are a part of living. Feeling them is part of us all. It’s how you act on them that makes who you are, and that what we’ve been learning about.” The words kept coming, Luke looking between the stars in the sky and the child by the now lit fire. This felt like something he had put a lot of thought into. “What we feel, we can’t always control. But we can make peace with it, let it pass through us and let it go. Feeling isn’t a weakness, as long as you don’t let it consume you. I’m certainly not the most patient person, but I’ve learned to channel it into things that help me, temper it to something less reactive. It’s not easy by any means. He has a hard path ahead of him, dealing with whatever this is. But I know we can get there.” He lapsed into silence, frowning still, unsure of where he was going with this. It certainly wasn’t the answer Din had expected, but surprisingly it gave him comfort for a fear he didn’t realize he had. His son was in good hands. The more he learned about Luke -the more the man talked- the more he wanted to know about him, the more questions he wanted to ask. This was obviously something personal to him; what had he been taught? What was he told by this master of his? Why did he look so determined yet forlorn at the stars above them when he talked about his deep emotions, and why did he have so much faith in them? Din wanted to know. He knew he couldn’t ask this man to bare his soul any further, however, still trying to process what he had been told.

“My master certainly didn’t think I should be trained, but here I am, better for it.” Luke dropped his head, his bangs covering his eyes as an almost bittersweet smile played at his lips. Din didn’t say anything. When Luke finally looked up at him, meeting his eyes in the firelight, his gaze was filled with determination. He held his stare, and for a moment Din wondered if he could see him, or maybe see through him, with the intensity of it. The sounds of the world around them dulled as they kept eye contact, the moment heavy between them. Unfortunately, every moment has to end, and eventually Din turned away. He looked across the clearing to where his son was, climbing all over the R2 unit which seemed resigned to its fate. The serenity of the evening not broken by the frantic beeps.

“I’m glad you’re going to help him. Teach him.” Din said quietly. It was the Jedi’s turn to not respond.

As the evening wore on, that warm feeling persisted as the cool night air rolled in.

***

The Jedi stayed with them a few days, before Din started getting antsy. Being in one spot so long was getting the better of him, gnawing at him as it had last time he had met Luke. The looming threat of the Empire wasn’t gone, and the longer he waited the worse it would be. The more likely he was to have his plan figured out, the less time he had to try and end this in his favour. Grogu on the other hand, seemed to be thriving under the attention and care of their little encampment. He didn’t want to take him from this, but a run in with some bounty hunters in the nearby town had set his nerves permanently on edge. Luke wasn’t as oblivious to this change in atmosphere as the child was, and had checked in to see how he was. As kind as the sentiment was, it hadn’t helped much. The only thing that would fix this was to deal with it. Din was starting to feel stagnant, running out of things to occupy himself with. So, when Luke got a call from his superior, apparently a woman named Leia, he was almost relieved. Not to see the other man go, as he had found himself almost enjoying the company, but to be on the move again.

Luke apologized, as though being called to help mediate some trade agreement was just a casual inconvenience in his week and not going to take him halfway across the galaxy. He seemed regretful that he had to put Grogu’s lessons on hold again, but he was part of the New Republic and as a General had a responsibility. General. Now that had come as a surprise. Once again, Din wondered what on earth a Jedi was doing with the New Republic, let alone being a General.

Before they went their separate ways, Luke made sure they exchanged comm codes.

“Now that you aren’t a huge Imperial blip on our radars, I’ll need a new way to find you next time.” He joked, packing his things away. _Next time_. Grogu seemed excited at the prospect, Din wasn’t quite ready to admit he did as well. After partings were said, and after the X-wing took off, Din watched the sky.

Now was the time to act, though. And as he lifted Grogu into his arms and made his way back towards the _Razor Crest_ , he was already finalizing his plan. As nice as having Luke Skywalker around was, it was about time to go have a few words with Moff Gideon.


	4. Retribution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies in advance, I don't like writing combat and will do anything to avoid it. I also want to reiterate that this was originally planned before the end of the season so I didn’t plan for what canon would introduce to the plot like the dark troopers and the spear. Some quick notes, thanks again to my beta reader hd_whales. Cara is a trans lesbian in this, no I don't make the rules, no its not story relevant, I just want everyone to know.

It hadn’t been an easy fight, but standing there with the Darksaber to Moff Gideon’s throat, Din knew he had won this day. Sure, they still had to find their way back out of the base, but they had made it this far, which was further than they had hoped. When he had first sat down at an old holo of the Imperial science compound with Cara and Greef Karga, no one had been certain of how this would go. The fact that they had the element of surprise was probably one of the only reasons they had made it to the command center mostly unconfronted. Despite what still lay ahead, in this moment, Din knew Grogu would be safe from this man. No matter what happened next. 

When he had finally managed to reverse the signal and get a location on the Moff, he had been secretly grateful the man was temporarily stationed planetside. If he had to deal with the light cruiser they had passed on their way in then that would be a whole different story. Who knew what kind of fire power he had on that ship?

There was no time to celebrate yet though. Despite their general luck on the way in -scrambling signals and using old security access codes- they _had_ ended up making mess of the entry way to the command center. Someone was sure to come along and notice one of the many bodies they had left in and around the entrance, and that would probably be sooner than later. Then things would get more complicated. But for now, he was here for a reason.

He had decided not long into the planning that Moff Gideon would die. There was no question about it. The man was a huge threat, and Din had killed people for less than threatening the safety of his only family. Even if he wanted to spare him, the man would escape. One way or another, he would use his not inconsiderable power to follow his little family to their graves. There was also no feasible way he and Cara could even attempt to bring him as a prisoner all the way back through the base. That would be a sure-fire way to end up dead as well, and the Moff would again escape his fate.

No, his fate wasn’t in question. Moff Gideon was going to die. The only one who didn’t quite seem to believe it was the man himself.

Even after being disarmed, thoroughly beaten and on his knees, his own weapon his harbinger.

The only real question was whether or not it was worth accessing the compound’s data logs. There was no doubt in his mind that stopping to load the datastick he had brought with him would immediately set off the alarms; the terminal would likely be able to recognize the object as foreign. But hey, that was likely to happen anyways. Imperial movement plans and comm logs wouldn’t do him much good in the long run, he knew that. They had already made the effort of breaking in though, and he knew someone who actually could put them to good use. He had already spent some of the flight over contemplating this, but now that he was here, he figured it couldn’t hurt. He tossed the stick to Cara, who seemed surprised by this new plan and less than down with it.

“Why the hell-” She gave him a confused frown.

“Just do it.” Her frown deepened for a moment, but she didn’t fight him on it. Turning, she strode to the nearest terminal and plugged it in, pressing a few prompt keys as it did its thing.

Moff Gideon laughed.

“Whatever it is you’re hoping to find, you’ll be dead long before you can make any sort of use of it.” He declared. Din had mostly tuned out his posturing at this point, but now was drawn back to the smirking man, so sure of their demise. Lots of bravado from a man with his own laser sword to his neck. That won’t do.

As the Moff moved to open his mouth, Din struck.

As predicted, the computer triggered the alarm. The sound of sirens and the flashing of red lights was the perfect accompaniment to the sound of Moff Gideon’s head hitting the floor.

Despite the calamity, he and Cara stilled for a moment, just one brief moment, looking at the now corpse as it slumped.

Then the urgency rushed back into the room at full force. Cara’s hands flew back into motion, finishing the sequence needed as Din stepped over the body to join her.

“This is a stupid idea.” She snapped.

“I know.”

“You owe me big time for this.”

“I know.” He more than knew, hopefully she knew how grateful he was. He sighed lightly, urging her to move faster.

***

They were out of the command center and running before any troops arrived, but it didn’t take long. Soon the sound of alarms clanging was overshadowed by blaster fire. They had to move fast. If this firefight lasted too long they would be in trouble. Din’s muscles protested, already feeling the strain from the fight on the way in and definitely from taking a few too many hits with the Darksaber as he and the Moff had duelled. Going up empty handed against a mysterious super weapon hadn’t been his best idea, but luckily, he was the more experienced fighter of the two, sword or no sword. His weapons hadn’t liked going up against that thing, he was definitely down to less than he’d prefer, but his armour certainly had help up. He has a few too many singe marks for his liking, and later would notice that he had a cracked rib, but now as they took cover, he didn’t focus on it. Wounds could be worried about later, even if they were shooting pain through him as he aimed his remaining blaster.

Leaving the base felt like it took an eternity. Since their cover had been blown anyways, there was no point in trying to be subtle and sneak back out the way they had come in. Instead, they headed for a side exit listed in the schematics. And wreaked havoc on the way out. Passing by a lab, Din made sure he had a bomb ready just for it. The few scattering scientists brought a sense of satisfaction. No one was going to experiment on his kid. Not on his watch.

As they turned the corner from the chaos, more troopers showed up, including Gideon’s personal squadron. The Death Troopers were well trained, and they knew it. They knew how to put up a hard fight. Every now and again, Cara would let out a huff of laughter, or a call of warning. The latter was becoming the more frequent of the two. Not for the first time, he was glad to have her at his side.

It hadn’t been easy to convince her for this one. The chances of success hadn’t been great and their allies were low. Getting her to leave her new post as Marshal was only part of the issue. She was right, he did owe her big for this. At least she seemed to be mostly enjoying herself, keeping a quiet count of every Imp she took down, even as her energy started to fall. They both took more injuries than they would care to admit. But finally, they were out the compound doors and making a break for the tree line nearby.

In comparison, making it back to the _Razor Crest_ was a breeze. Sure, they still had some resistance, but overall the tree cover made it near impossible to come after them with any sort of heavy artillery or fighter ships. They had both fallen silent at they boarded the ship, too exhausted for any jeers or celebrations, taking off as soon as possible.

***

“Okay, spill,” Cara started as she wrapped the bandage tighter round her wounded arm, “what the hell could you possibly need Imperial movement logs for?” She looked at him now, not with any real heat but definitely with curiosity, putting the datastick on the console. She had finally joined him in the cockpit, giving him time to tend to the worst of his injuries privately before seeking his company.

“I know a guy, he’s part of the New Republic. Figured we were there anyways.” He shrugged, “it never hurts to be owed a favour.” That last part was a lie, he certainly wasn’t doing this to gain anyone’s favour. He had mostly done it just because, partially feeling like he owed Luke something, after all he was doing for Grogu. But also, part of his just wanted to impress the other man.

“I got shot. So that you can go play politics with some guy?” Okay, yeah that didn’t sound great worded like that. She didn’t sound too pissed about it at least.

“He’s… A friend. I guess.” He admitted, slowly. Were they friends? He wasn’t quite sure where he stood with the Jedi.

“A friend? Anyone I know? Better be someone pretty impressive if I’m getting shot at for him.” Oh yeah, she was definitely teasing him now. Any annoyance she may have felt had left her in her adrenaline crash.

“His name’s Luke. Luke Skywalker. He mentioned he’s a General or something.” He didn’t miss the way Cara turned to gape at him briefly. So, the name _was_ supposed to mean something. “He’s the one I told you about, the one training Grogu.”

“Hold up, you know Luke Skywalker. _The_ Luke Skywalker. And you still called me as backup? I don’t know whether I’m really flattered or if you’re an idiot. Not that I don’t enjoy a good raid, any excuse to knock some Imp heads together, but…” She trailed off at the blank stare he gave her. She laughed, and Din knew it was at his expense. “No way, you have no idea who he is, do you?” More silence. He really needed to catch up on galactic current events apparently. Was there some big Rebellion joke he wasn’t in on?

“The guy who blew up the Death Star twice, poster boy for the Rebellion, rumoured to be a Jedi and to have killed the Emperor himself? Not ringing any bells?”

Well, that explained some things.

“He’s definitely a Jedi.” He huffed. Cara laughed again.

“I can’t believe it. Oh yeah, that’s good enough to get shot at for. Can’t believe you’re friends with a war hero, and you have him on babysitting duty on the reg, and you didn’t even know it!”

She asked a few more questions, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively when he struggled to find answers to the more unexpected ones like “is he as cute in person?” and “does he have a hot sister?”

It was going to be a long ride back to Nevarro. Not once though, did he give second thought to the weapon he now had strapped to his belt.


	5. Conflict

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, I have no idea who Bo-Katan is besides her appearance in the Mandalorian, so whoops if shes out of character, these are just the vibes I got from her plus info i gained from a small collection of text posts. If shes acting weird to you, that's because I literally don't know who she is.   
> Secondly, this chapter really didn't want to be written so have fun. This was supposed to be longer but I had to cut it in half so sorry, no Luke again this chapter.

He never would’ve thought that he’d be especially happy to see the rocky surface of Nevarro, but as they landed the _Razor Crest_ , Din couldn’t deny the relief he felt.

As he and Cara gathered themselves and exited, it was obvious they were a bit worse for wear. He had managed to convince Cara that her wounded arm would heal better in a sling until she could get proper medical attention for it, and she had thoroughly berated him for trying to do much of anything, to at least attempt to not aggravate his definitely cracked ribs in the meantime. But they were breathing, and they were walking, and as they made their way through the familiar town, that was all that mattered.

They stopped by Greef Karga’s office first, but upon finding it empty them moved to the next logical place, the old guild pub. There they found him, in a heated conversation with a Mirialan who seemed less than thrilled with whatever way their talk was going.

When the Magistrate caught sight of them at the entrance of the pub, he waved off his companion with a few quick parting words and stood, raising his arms towards them in a gesture of welcome.

“I see you’ve returned triumphant! Not that I thought otherwise, I have the utmost faith in you both!” He put a hand on both their shoulders as they met him.

“I doubt we’d be back here is we weren’t.” Cara scoffed humorously, returning the man’s gesture before finding a chair at the bar, propping her feet up and getting comfortable.

“That is very true.” Greef conceded good naturedly.

“Where’s the kid?” Din brought the man’s attention back to himself.

“Never one to relax, are you?” The man shook his head at the dead stare Din was giving him. He wasn’t going to win that particular battle and they both knew it.

“Behind the bar,” the man gestured, “he fell asleep while exploring the shelving and I just didn’t have the heart to move him.” He moved towards the bar; Din followed.

True to his word, Grogu was there, tucked sleepily between some boxes and a stack of cups. Din realized that he also didn’t have the heart to wake him. Not when he felt his whole body relax seeing he was alright, wrapped in the calmness of the dream world.

“Let him sleep. It’s not like we have anywhere urgent to go.” He said, turning to follow Greef back to the man’s table. He wanted to pick Grogu up, but the chances of him continuing sleeping despite being jostled around were slim.

“I’d say ‘let me buy you a drink’ but I doubt you’d take me up on that.” Greef trailed off, looking curious to see if he would be proven wrong. He wasn’t.

“No.”

“Right. And you?” He turned back to Cara, to see she already had a drink in her good hand. She grinned.

“Not like I was planning on paying for this while you’re around anyways.” She laughed, taking another swig of the blue liquid. The other man let out a huff of a laugh as well as she stood to join them, and reached for his own drink.

“Well a toast either way, to victory!” He and Cara raised their glasses following the declaration. Din just sat there and watched them.

He was decidedly not uncomfortable in their company, with people he considered to be his friends and with his child sleeping peacefully within reach. As the conversation picked up between them, despite his aches and bruises, he felt a sort of contentment he hadn’t felt in quite a long time. He could stay for a bit, he decided. Sure, he expected some sort of retaliation for killing one of the Empire’s higher ups, but for now it could wait. Instead, he just enjoyed the moment as he listened to Cara fill their host in on the action he’d missed. A little socialization wouldn’t kill him.

Or so he thought, until the topic turned to him.

“What?” He said, taken off guard. It had taken him a moment to even realize they were addressing him directly. Usually, all (himself included) were content to let the conversation sort of flow around him, so he had admittedly starting tuning out some of the details. He hadn’t been paying quite enough attention to even make a guess at what the question might have been, but his friends were looking at him expectantly.

“What are you going to do now?” Greef slowly repeated himself, Cara lowering her head in silent laughter and sipping at what he was sure was her third drink.

“I…” he hesitated. _What was his plan?_ _Did he actually have one?_

“I don’t know.” He finished lamely. It was the truth, though. He hadn’t given much thought as to what might happen once he defeated Moff Gideon. He had always sort of assumed at the beginning of his quest that he would return to bounty hunting, it being something he was both good at and enjoyed. He relished the thrill of the hunt, and the feeling of being in control and sure of himself. It made things easier. But the more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t make Grogu fit into that picture. It was a problem that persisted, evading answer as he furrowed his brow in thought.

He could keep this up for a while, going about his business, but for how long? How long until he got a reputation as someone who had their kid with them always, even on a hunt? No, that would make him vulnerable, and put a huge target on the kid’s back. On the other hand though, it wasn’t like he could just drop the kid off planetside, leaving him behind. Where would he even leave him, in who’s care? Not only did the idea of being parted again _really_ not appeal to him, but surely others would eventually come seeking the child looking to exploit his strange gifts. Word spread fast, even with the galaxy as vast as it was. How could he rest easy knowing Grogu might be in danger and he wasn’t around to help? And again, there wasn’t really anywhere he _could_ leave him. His covert was gone, who knows where any remaining members were; scattered to the wind.

He heaved a sigh, taking a brief moment to mourn silently. Then he looked back to his company, who still starred at him expectantly.

“I haven’t given it much thought.” He continued, truthfully. That answer was just going to have to be enough for now. It was the only one he had.

Cara nodded, her attention being grabbed as she watched patrons enter and exit the bar, her eyes trailing after the Mirialan from earlier. He gratefully let her attention go.

“We can’t convince you to stick around, could we? We could use you around here, you know that.” Greef asked, his focus was not so easily relinquished. They both knew what his answer would be. It would be the same one he gave him last time, despite no longer having a quest to fulfill. He had, after all, found a Jedi (or at least been found by one), even if he hadn’t _technically_ been able to return Grogu to his people. He figured all parties involved were relatively content with the outcome.

He was saved from answering further by a small green head peaking up noisily above the bar. Grogu’s small coos were his cue to leave. He stood, walking over to scoop up his child. His company stood as well, knowing it was time to say their goodbyes for now.

“Either way, you’re always welcome here. Both of you. I expect you to visit; the local children have grown fond of this little guy.” The man was smiling again, giving the kid a soft nudge on the head. Din nodded.

“I’ll be sure to stop by sometime. After all, I’m sure one of us still owes the other a favour somehow.” Greef shrugged at this, his smile never leaving.

“Eh, who’s counting!”

“I am.” Cara interjected, “If I need you, you’d better come running.” She clasped his free arm in her good one.

“Wouldn’t dream of making you wait, Marshal.” He said.

With their parting finalized with smiles, and feeling lighter than he had in a while, he made his way back to his ship. Soon though, that lightness was replaced by a slowly building anxiety. He couldn’t let the question go, not when it was finally in his head and so immediate an issue.

_What was he going to do now?_

_***_

When he had said word travelled fast, Din didn’t quite realize how fast. Somehow, in all the chaos that was his life, it had slipped his mind that others besides the Empire might be mad at him. After all, the only good Imp was a dead one. Who could blame him?

Usually, if he was to find other Mandalorians, well, he wouldn’t use the word happy, but he certainly wouldn’t mind it. He really could’ve gone longer without seeing this crew again. They had helped each other out, yes, but his first (and only) run in with Bo-Katan and hers hadn’t exactly been his definition of a good time. He had found her to be… less than pleasant. It definitely hadn’t been helped by the fact that she had almost single handedly contributed to his ever growing, ongoing existential dread.

This time, he could already tell as she strode towards him, was probably not going to go as well as last time. There was a fire in her step, her posture oozing pride and anger.

She was mad.

And for once, he had no idea why. Lots of people spent a lot of time holding grudges against him. It came with the territory of his profession. Usually, he could guess where the hostility came from. But he had thought they had parted on good-ish terms. Unless he had missed something lately, his recent exploits with the Empire were the biggest thing of note he’d done in the past while. The righteous anger directed at him _probably_ had something to do with that. Din vaguely remembered that Bo-Katan had some sort of vendetta with the Empire; who didn’t, though? What that had to do with his killing of Moff Gideon, he didn’t know. What else could she be mad at him for, though?

He didn’t have to wait long to find out. She immediately approached him, taking off her helmet as she went, throwing her accusations at him rapid fire. The helmet thing caught him off guard again, just as it had last time. Sure, he had accepted that they just didn’t believe in the same things (her proclamation of “cults” rang clear through his head on many sleepless nights), but that didn’t mean that the shock had worn off.

That, combined with the fact that he was starting to think he’d had one too many explosions and shoot outs near his ears, made him slow to process her words. Some of it was lost on him, but his brain finally caught up with her.

“Hold on,” he put his hands up in front of him, trying to placate her, “I haven’t betrayed anyone. What are you even talking about?” She sneered at him; her eyes narrowed as she steadied her breathing.

“I challenge you for the Darksaber, and the right to rule our people.” _What?_

“This thing?” He was going to ignore that last bit for now, taking the saber from where it hung at his hip, “Here, how about I just give it to you. I really am not in the mood to fight you right now.” Between his still healing injuries and his general distemperment due to his ongoing “oh god what am I doing with my life?”, he really wasn’t in the mood to throw down with the other Mandalorian. She stepped back from him.

“That’s not how this works. I must win it through combat. You deprived me of my victory over Moff Gideon, now I have to make you pay.”

“What if I say no?” He was testing the waters and all it seemed to be doing was riling her up.

“Then I kick your ass and take it from you anyways.” She snapped.

“Are you serious? Just take it. It obviously means more to you than to me.” He held the hilt towards her; what good was a weapon he didn’t know how to use? Sure, he could learn, but right now, he was just tired. But that had obviously been the wrong thing to say. She bristled, looking at him as if he had a second head.

“You don’t even know what you have, do you?” She shook her head as if to clear it, trying to regain her composure.

“A cool sword, which I’m giving you. Here, take it.” Again, the wrong thing to say. It wasn’t as though he was goading her on purpose.

“What you’re holding is the key to reuniting our people and reclaiming Mandalore. You’ve accidentally stumbled your way into something much bigger than you. Whoever wields the Darksaber is the rightful ruler of Mandalore, of all Mandalorians. And you just have it at your side as a trinket! You know nothing of ruling, nothing of the power you’re holding! I’ve worked too long and too hard to have this taken from me again!” With that, while he tried to process what she was telling him, she put her helmet back on and lunged at him. It surprised him, so much so that he dropped the hilt he held out as a peace offering, but his instincts and reflexes didn’t let him down as he parried her first blow. Okay, well if it was a fight she wanted, it was a fight she was going to get.

***

The fight lasted longer than he cared to admit. Bo-Katan was a remarkable fighter and her hand-to-hand combat skills were nothing to laugh at. Years of training and experience showed in her movements. But lucky for him, he finally had her pinned to the ground, his knife at her exposed throat. He might’ve been tired and with a healing injury, but she had allowed herself to become caught up in her fury as he antagonized her, her anger making her sloppy, not thinking as clear as she should.

For a moment, he thought she was going to continue to struggle, maybe even force him to put her down for his own safety. That _really_ wasn’t something he wanted to do right now, especially not with her second in command reaching for her blaster. A sharp command stopped her, the Mandalorian halting at her Commander’s cue. Din breathed heavily in the silence, waiting for the next move from the woman under him. What she did next made all the difference.

“I yield.” She spat, bitterness in her very bones.

Din held his position for a moment longer before rising off her, still gripping his knife. In his head, he let out a sigh of relief. He really wasn’t in the mood to fight her whole team.

Bo-Katan pulled herself from the dirt, standing with as much dignity as she could manage, (still a lot, surprisingly).

“Don’t think this is me giving up, you’ll see me again soon. Next time, I will kill you. I was born to rule Mandalore. It’s my birthright and my duty. You’re nothing more than a bump in the road, who has no idea what to do with the power you’ve taken.” Anger laced her words, her pride wounded, and her resolve hardened. He wanted to agree, wanted to give her the stupid thing. But he now knew an inkling of the weight the Darksaber held. She would never take it so easily from someone she declared her enemy.

He found himself alone, on a barren planet, with a weapon that carried more history than he probably knew what to do with, more weight and responsibility that he sure as hell didn’t fully understand. For a moment, he considered leaving it where he had dropped it earlier, leaving it to be claimed by the rocky earth and sparse foliage of the planet he had landed on. He knew better, though. Even if he didn’t understand it, didn’t want it, this blade was the heritage of all Mandalorians, the heritage of his people, _his_ heritage. He couldn’t bring himself to abandon it, even if he didn’t feel good about the power it promised, if Bo-Katan was to be believed. The Darksaber once again found its way to the loop on his belt, catching the noon light as though it was meant to be there.

He turned back to the _Razor Crest_ , all his plans for this planet forgotten. He felt pressure on his chest, as everything he’d learned and everything he still didn’t know weighed down on him. With all the noise in his head, all the thoughts that wouldn’t leave him alone, he just wanted to run. He found his way back to the cockpit, ignoring Grogu’s tired gurgle of confusion as he woke from his chair, just giving him a quick pat on the head.

Once they had broken atmosphere, and everything was dark again, he felt he could breathe easier. He put his head in his hands for a moment, just letting the air fill his lungs.

It was then that he say the blinking red light of a transmission. He could easily ignore it, but honestly, there wasn’t much a transmission could do to make his day worse.

To his pleasant surprise, it wasn’t anything bad.

He ended the playback and set a new course. After everything that had happened, everything he had learned, Luke’s invitation to meet him would be a more than welcome distraction.


	6. The Clearing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, the chapter really didn't want to be written, and again I had to split this one in half. Have fun.Thank you to everyone who has commented, I really do appreciate your kind words I just have too much anxiety to respond to them individually!!!

Arriving on the planet Luke had indicated, Din was grateful that it was both nearby to where he had been and that he was familiar with the area -he was in no mood to be lost. He landed in a clearing, close enough to the nearest city that he would probably be able to keep himself entertained while Luke and Grogu did whatever it was that Jedi do. He wasn’t sure how long they were going to be staying, but he figured finding some work in the meantime couldn’t hurt. It was a surprisingly nice thought to be able to find work without having to worry about his kid’s safety, something that had been eating at him since it was thrust to the forefront of his mind. For once, he felt no qualms about leaving Grogu in someone else’s care. Cara may have been ribbing him when she said it, but she was right: Luke was a surprisingly convenient babysitter.

As he landed though, and saw the man in question had already set up camp, his thoughts weren’t on how he was going to occupy himself and pay for fuel, they were on how he was supposed to give Luke the datastick he had collected without being weird about it. It _was_ meant to be a gift, but none of the scripts he ran through conveyed that easily. After all, how do you tell someone you hardly know that you took the time to stop while off killing Imps to get them a present, even if it was a work related one? It felt a bit ridiculous now as it had when Cara had questioned him about it.

In the end, he scrapped the script and went with what his instincts said. Which was a problem as when he actually was standing face to face with Luke, who looked excited to see them (the sincerity in his smile was unexpected but oh so very welcome, despite his always tired eyes), his instincts short circuited and his pulse sped up. He shoved the datastick unceremoniously into Luke’s hands as the man stood to greet them, muttering a gruff “here.”

“Thanks?” The Jedi said, moving to look at what he’d been passed, “what’s on it?”

Din shrugged, not having seen any use in looking through the information. But upon seeing Luke’s unimpressed raised eyebrows, he realized he was going to have to say more. After all, unimpressed was the exact opposite of what he had been aiming for. He willed his thoughts to catch up with his beating heart.

“For you. It’s from Moff Gideon’s compound, figured you might have a use for it.”

_Nailed it._

Luckily, Luke seemed to get the message. His eyebrows were still raised, but now the expression was closer to the one Din had been searching for. He supposed word of the Moff’s death had also likely reached former rebellion leaders.

“You stole Imperial information while in combat, for the New Republic?” He seemed surprised.

“Not for them. For you.” Din corrected. Yes, it would help the war efforts (hopefully), but if this helped make Luke’s life easier, if it helped ease whatever burden caused the younger man to look like he hadn’t slept in days, then he would count this as a win. He wasn’t quite sure why he cared so much for Luke’s opinion or wellbeing, but he found he did. It was probably because he was going out of his way to help Grogu, had returned his son to him. What else could it be?

Luke looked at him as though pondering, before his smile returned. He placed a hand on Din’s shoulder.

“Thank you.” He looked at him for what felt like a beat too long, before letting his arm fall and turning to Grogu, who had been patiently waiting for attention. “I’m glad to hear you’re both in one piece, I was surprised when I heard about the Moff’s death. It’s not every day you hear about a Mandalorian storming an Imp base solo and taking down their leader. I hope I didn’t pull you away from anything too important.”

Thinking to his encounter with Bo-Katan and her crew, he much preferred to be here.

***

Luke had gone to his droid after that, once they had finished their extended greetings, to see if the astromech could transfer the information somewhere more immediately useful. While he did, Din settled himself and Grogu in the clearing.

As the day wore on, he found himself much calmer than he had been after he had been challenged for the Darksaber. There wasn’t much daylight left, despite the planet they were on having longer rotations, so instead of something practical, they sat round the fire and caught up. It was nice. Luke, after having finished some reports that he insisted couldn’t wait, had engaged Grogu in a staring contest. Din assumed it was probably a conversation, as he was learning Jedi could weirdly do. At least Grogu seemed to find it interesting. Luckily for him, the majority of the evening would be spent talking out loud, not in brain conversations he couldn’t follow. Grogu spent the evening entertaining himself, jumping between listening to the adults talking and climbing around on whatever stood still long enough to allow him. The child finally let sleep overcome him, finding himself snuggled in on Luke’s lap, who was more than happy to indulge. He was obviously fond of the man. Which was good, because Din was as well.

He stared at the Jedi, lit against the dark night by flames and moonlight, and was thankful that his helmet made it less obvious that he found him mesmerizing whenever Luke turned to meet his gaze.

***

Over the next few days, they all spent varying amounts of time together at the camp clearing. Sometimes, Din would content himself with just sitting and watching the two Jedi. It was captivating, what they could do, and though he didn’t want to admit it, it frustrated him to no end that he didn’t understand it, that he couldn’t stand next to them. He couldn’t deny that they seemed happy though. 

Other times he would trek through the city, taking in what was familiar and what was new. He did find he much preferred the company of Luke and Grogu to trudging through the narrow streets, dodging suspicious questions and looking for trouble, but there was only so long he could stay still before it started to wear on him. Sometimes, he would bring Grogu with him. After all, the attention span of toddlers wasn’t typically impressive, and his kid was no exception. He was also, as Luke explained, too young to do the more complex things a Jedi apprentice would typically train in, and no amount of concentration and learning control would help avoid a grumpy baby.

Luke also disappeared from time to time. He originally explained that he was answering calls, but sometimes he’d leave into the trees with little warning, towards the city or further into the forest. Din chose not to push the issue despite wondering; after all, everyone needed to be alone sometimes.

What he _was_ much more curious about turned out to be Luke’s lightsaber. Glowing green and dangerous. The first day they properly spent together, the Jedi had ignited the weapon to run what he called drills (after insisting to Grogu that no, he wasn’t allowed to play with the deadly laser sword).

Between the strange magic that he was now familiar with as the Force and the bright green light that bathed Luke as he moved, Din was transfixed. It was easily the most intriguing thing so far, and he couldn’t help but want to know more about the weapon and its forms Luke seemed to know by heart. It also forced him to remember his own strange blade, so similar in design. So, eventually when they ended up on the topic, he brought up Bo-Katan and the confusing messages she had left him with, the blade he was beginning to feel weighed too heavy in his mind.

He showed him the Darksaber at his request, igniting it as he did. Watching Luke’s face was a treat, him moving through emotions as though not sure which to land on. After a moment of mixed emotions and confusion, he seemed to settle on a slightly bemused frown.

“It feels weird.” Luke said. Din, again, had no idea what he meant. “Could I hold it?” Whatever the problem seemed to be, either he had gotten over it fast or his curiosity had won out. Din immediately passed the lit hilt over, careful not to burn either of them. The Jedi gave it a few experimental swings.

“She didn’t tell me much...” He trailed off, watching Luke turn the weapon over in his hands.

 _He looks good with it,_ Din’s brain helpfully provided him with.

“I really don’t know anything about it either, unfortunately. It hasn’t come up in anything I’ve found so far. You said she mentioned the right to rule? Is it a symbolic thing, or…?” Luke deactivated the black blade, inspecting the hilt more closely.

“I have no idea. I’d never heard of it before all this started.” Honestly, he hoped it was just some kind of ceremonial, theoretical nonsense. “I’m not exactly ruler material if that’s the case.”

Luke gave him an indecipherable look, handing the blade back to him before moving on with the conversation.

“I can ask around, see what people know. I really don’t know much about Mandalore, but I’m sure Leia might know something.” Luke chuckled to himself for a moment. “She could also probably give you a few royalty tips, Mr. Maybe-King-of-Mandalore.” His tone was joking, but Din wasn’t in on whatever it was. He chose to ignore the last bit; now wasn’t the time to ponder that too hard.

“And she is…?” He said slowly. The name sounded vaguely familiar. Luke stopped laughing, blinking at him instead. Din found he missed the sound as soon as it ended.

“Leia Organa?” That didn’t ring a bell. “General of the New Republic? Senator and Princess of Alderaan?” He paused, seeing if any of that helped. “My twin sister? I’m sure I’ve mentioned her.” Din hummed in thought, finally remembering the name with the small holo that liked to call Luke away on business.

That made sense. But also, no sense at all. He hadn’t even known Luke had a twin.

“Your sisters a princess?” Din wasn’t expecting to add royalty to Luke’s already long list of accomplishments and titles, “I had no idea I was in the presence of royalty, _your highness_.”

Luke blinked, his cheeks warming at the tone.

“Oh! No, we didn’t grow up together. I’m not-” He cut himself off, flushing.

“Why not?” Luke looked like he wanted to answer, but hesitated. That was odd. Usually, Luke answered whatever he had to ask, so this was a new response. It was probably very personal, Din reasoned.

“Have you used it yet? The Darksaber?” Luke changed the subject. Din let him, storing that information away to ask about later. He could’ve probably pushed it, but that might make Luke clam up entirely.

“I used it to take off Moff Gideon’s head, if that counts.” He moved to put reattach the hilt to his belt.

“Not really.” Well fine, then. “But you haven’t actually used it in combat?” He shook his head no. The weapon was weird, the few times he had ignited the blade he had noted it strange weight in his hands. There was little real heaviness to the weapon, and that made handling it awkward.

“I could show you how to use it?” Luke looked hopeful, previous embarrassment forgotten.

Part of Din took offense to that. Surely, he -a Mandalorian- could figure out a sword, even if it was weird and weightless. But that part was quickly squashed by a much bigger part that liked Luke’s attention, the part that really wanted to see him fight.

And that was how he found himself facing down the blade of a lightsaber. Sure, he was familiar with bladed weapons, but Luke definitely had the advantage of speed and experience. He had run Din through some basics before he’d managed to goad him into sparring. Compensating for the weightlessness of the blade _was_ proving a challenge, but he was a quick learner. Paired with Luke’s correcting of his footwork as he moved, he was holding his own (though, he was certain Luke was going easy on him and wasn’t sure how that made his pride feel). None of this stopped Luke from stepping right into his space and putting the length of the blade to Din’s neck. He froze, breathing hard, adrenaline coursing through him. They had been at it longer than he thought. This was the closest he’d been to the man. His normally blue eyes were glowing green, pupils wide and dark reflecting the light.

He was beautiful.

They both stood there, still for a beat too long, much too close, breathing.

Finally, Din deactivated his own blade, and Luke soon followed, stepping away with as a smirk creeped onto his face.

“What do you say we go have lunch and I tell you everything you did wrong?”

To Din’s delight, that wouldn’t be the last time they sparred over the course of the two weeks they spent together. For now, though, he had to content himself with staring after Luke and the playful smile he threw over his shoulder as he walked away.

The thought of Luke so close, heavily breathing and glowing eyes, plagued him all through the night.

***

“So what’re your plans now, do you know where you’re headed next?”

There it was.

The dreaded question.

They had all settled down for the evening, Grogu was long asleep and the two men were also winding down for the evening.

His brain supplied him with “wherever you go” unhelpfully before it stopped moving properly and the feeling of minor dread again set in. He frowned at the campfire, dismissing that first thought as all his too many, too inadequate options floated into his mind. Again, he was stuck with the solutionless question of what to do now that Moff Gideon wasn’t a constant threat. He missed the intense look Luke was giving him.

“As soon as I figure it out, you’ll be the first to know,” He said, before correcting himself, “second.” He patted Grogu’s head gently as the child slept in his lap as indication. Luke smiled at that.

***

The nights were quiet. While they were close to the city, the trees provided them enough cover to dull the chaos of the night life. Every now and again, Luke would receive calls. Usually, for the ones he didn’t wander into the forest for, it was the pretty woman he now knew to be Luke’s sister. Sometimes she called on business, but more often it was the two of them being friendly, joking and ranting tiredly. They sounded close. Din had to wonder at that, since Luke said they didn’t grow up together. They seemed to miss each other. He knew Luke was a busy man, but he wondered when the last time he had been home was. If Luke knew where home _was_ , or if he, like Din, was just wandering in search of something more. He had never heard the other man mention it.

Most of their nights, though, would be spent round the campfire they made. They would trade stories and enjoy each other’s company after long days of training, sparring, and Din’s excursions. Din found himself content, the kind of contentment he had only recently felt around his friends on Nevarro, and with his son safe next to him. Some evenings they found themselves wandering together through the city, but enjoying each other’s company away from the threat of prying eyes and potentially looming danger was so much nicer, just being in the warm contentment of company. He never felt weary, or pressured, or uncomfortable in Luke’s company. Even when they didn’t quite understand each other. It felt… easy. He quietly hoped Luke felt the same way.

By the time that Luke was inevitably called away to business, they had all managed to form a comfortable sort of routine. Sure, Din would prefer somewhere a bit more exciting, but he found himself getting bored and antsy much slower than he usually would. It gave him time to finish healing properly and to rest, which he hadn’t done in such a long time. Sure, he still found work (and trouble) nearby, but his life hadn’t been seriously threatened in a record amount of time. He knew it couldn’t be permanent. But seeing Luke seem reluctant to leave -as he had a hushed argument with his sister on the comm- made it so much harder for Din to want to leave as well. He found himself enjoying their strange arrangement. Grogu seemed to understand Luke was going, but watching him cling to Luke as the man tried to pack up camp was a kind of heartache he wasn’t prepared for.

At the end of the day though, Luke had a duty to uphold and people who depended on him, which would always win out in the end.

As they said their goodbyes and he watched as the X-wing got smaller in the distant sky, Din couldn’t help but wonder if this was how it was always going to be: him on the ground, watching as Luke left.


	7. The Settlement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I've started getting more shifts at work now that I've graduated university and am way more busy. I'm planning on updating every other wednesday. Also, in this au Poker exists just because i wanted to use the phrase "poker face". This is the last big set up chapter, I promise!!   
> Thank you for your comments, and enjoy!!!

The next time Din had visitors was decidedly less pleasant than Luke’s company, but much more surprising. In hindsight, he probably could’ve guessed that his newly acquired status as “Wielder of the Darksaber” was going to bring more attention than he typically liked.

The group of strangers cornered him in the cantina he found himself in, sitting at his table with neither invitation nor hesitation. Looking at his newcomers, assessing the situation, Din noted that he had now run into more Mandalorians than he had seen in quite some time.

This group wasn’t as well colour-coded as Bo-Katan’s team of misfits, instead their armour adorned in varying colours and patterns to indicate their different clans and status. They held themselves with intent, the two on the sides bracing themselves in a way as if to guard the third in the middle. So that was who was in charge. As two of them moved to remove their helmets, Din mentally braced himself. Would he ever get used to that? He suspected not.

While he certainly hadn’t expected the company, he was even less expecting their motives.

***

By the time they left him, leaving coordinates behind, Din was feeling a myriad of emotions. Mostly confusion, or at the very least indecision.

A new Mandalore. Din had no idea what to make of that.

Their spokesperson, the young woman in the middle who addressed him, sounded confident, however. She made a compelling argument, and had thrown in some shots at his sense of honour and duty when he didn’t seem as onboard as she was hoping, just for extra measure. But Din had no personal attachment to the concept of Mandalore. He had never been there and, quite frankly, didn’t know too much about the dead planet. His Creed and his covert never focused on the land itself. The planet wasn’t important – the people were. Not for the first time, he was struck by how little he had actually been taught about the Mandalorian homeworld. What these strangers were proposing wasn’t the planet. It wasn’t the land. And that’s what made their offer intriguing.

The young woman admitted they weren’t prepared (or crazy enough) to try and retake and resettle Mandalore, though one of her accompanying Mandalorians huffed in discontent at that. The three shared a sentiment he had heard echoed even back in his old covert. The time for hiding had to end. Sick of being hunted, sick of being on the run, sick of having claim to a dying culture, they had banded together with likeminded others. Strength was in their numbers, especially in such a turbulent galaxy. So, here they were, extending an invitation to him as well. They might not have the power to rebuild Mandalore, but apparently that wasn’t going to stop them from continuing to build something new. One of the men at her side cut in, saying he didn’t have to stay long, but at least come and learn. They wouldn’t hold him against his will.

On its own, that wasn’t enough to convince Din, though. While they clearly meant him no harm, he wasn’t sure he could trust them or what they were building. Mandalorian survival relied on secrecy, he knew that as well as any other, despite what they were telling him. What was to stop them from being hunted down again and again? His guests likely saw they weren’t going to convince him, not without giving him time to think it over. The woman seemed prepared for resistance to the idea, and Din wondered how often she did this.

Before they took their leave, she took a deep breath.

“I understand your hesitance. I have a family too. If there’s one thing all of us agree on, its to put your family first. You understand,” she gestured with her hand. Din immediately stiffened, thinking they were threatening him, but she continued, her voice softening even as she maintained eye contact determinedly, “Think of your own little one, what you’d do for him.”

She stood to go.

“That’s what we’re doing here. This isn’t for us, it’s for those we love. And I’m willing to fight for that, for our duty to our culture and those we care for. I believe you are too.”

***

It took him a few days to make any real decision. Eventually though, he found himself heading to the sector anyways. What was the worst that could happen, anyway? It would only be for a quick stop: refuel, restock, humour them. He glanced over at Grogu in the seat next to him, who was playing absent mindedly. Maybe this would be good for him, maybe there would be other children there. Maybe Din _could_ trust these people.

Maybe this was the answer he was looking for.

***

If Din had been asked even two months ago if he thought he’d be living amongst Mandalorians again, his answer would’ve definitely been no. Yet here he was despite all his reservations, a month into his “brief visit” to what the citizens had lovingly (and creatively) dubbed New Mandalore. Officially stepping into his house. _His_. He had declined the spot up until now, despite many assurances that it was for him, and had instead opted to stay in the _Razor Crest._ It was only supposed to have been for a couple days. But days turned into weeks, and now he stood there, finally having admitted that this might be at least a little bit more long term than he had planned.

It was overwhelming, if he was being honest. After all, what had he honestly done to earn this? All because he happened to have the Darksaber? When he had shown up, Din had been greeted enthusiastically by the young woman from before (who he now knew as Chyri) and the others who formed the town’s council. As they welcomed him, they explained to him exactly what his position was. They quickly realized he wasn’t familiar with the legend of the Darksaber and _finally_ filled him in on it. Bo-Katan’s words echoed in his head, the missing pieces finally forming a full picture.

“We didn’t find you at random.” Chyri had started, “even if you don’t want it, you have claim to the Mandalorian throne. Having someone of that status, it gives us a certain amount of power in our allies’ eyes. Your express approval of the idea helps strengthen our trade routes and alliances in the eyes of those who value tradition, and we need that right now.” She waved her hands vaguely through the air as she talked.

“You might not have position or power, and we won’t make you stay if you don’t want to, but even someone who could potentially be a legitimate leader would make our settlement stand out politically.” One of the other council members finished. While they didn’t expect him to up and become a ruler, the full context that he couldn’t escape this was a lot to process. Sure, he was growing to like the weapon, but what had he done to warrant even a claim to the throne? What made him qualified? Bo-Katan had been right, he wasn’t the one for this, he certainly wasn’t worthy of any respect earned solely from having killed a man; it wasn’t like he had done it for the greater good. And he couldn’t even give the thing away. Sure, he was good at what he did, and confident in his skills, but that certainly didn’t make him any more suited to the job than any other Mandalorian who had worked hard to make New Mandalore what it was.

He had been surprised at the size of the settlement, honestly. He had been led to believe it was just starting up, but he had to wonder how long this group had inhabited Cophragen V. While small, they all pulled their weight and had taken in stragglers who were wanting to swear themselves to the Mandalorian ways. The clan markings amongst Chyri’s group were as diverse across the town as well. While he didn’t recognize anyone, Din was at least not the only one who seemed to follow his Creed. Apparently, many “Children of the Watch” had either defected or had struck out on their own, and some had found their way here.

Either way, even as unsure as he felt about all of this, Din stood in the middle of his house. Maybe this could even be a home. He hoped this was the right choice.

***

Din was out on a supply run. Accompanied by two others from New Mandalore, they were on _Official_ business. The company meant that once Grogu was tired of exploring and playing in the hold, he had to settle on Din’s lap, his usual seat being occupied. Din felt he probably wasn’t needed for this, but when a council member had asked him to go, he could hardly refuse. He had no illusions of who was in charge, but they certainly seemed to enjoy flexing his “could be the Mand’alor if he wanted to” status. He was also just glad for the excuse to be useful. While he did try and contribute, this was the best way for him to help. Din’s particular set of life skills, though good at them, weren’t super conducive to helping with day to day town obligations. So, he let them send him where they needed him to go, usually as a strange sort of intimidation tactic. They all knew he didn’t have any desire to hold power, but everyone else didn’t need to know that, and certainly didn’t stop them from using that to their advantage. Whenever he wasn’t off-world doing his own work, he found himself frequently on the negotiation side of supply runs, and on the aggressive side of negotiations. It was a strange arrangement, but Din certainly wasn’t hating it. It was nice that he had finally been secure enough that he could leave Grogu behind when needed. The town had proven safe, and leaving the kid to play with Chyri’s children was something he had grown comfortable with (though he still brought him along when those big eyes pleaded with him for an outing, an adventure).

That was where he found himself when he received an incoming transmission.

It was from Luke.

While part of him wanted nothing more than to answer it right away, Din hesitated. He was almost embarrassed to admit, he had missed the past couple attempts Luke made to reach him. Either it was while he was doing something important, or he happened to be in company that he wasn’t sure would be super welcoming of the Jedi (again, going off information from Bo-Katan). Which was the company he currently had. Last thing he wanted was for his fellow Mandalorians to be suspicious of his relationship (his mind stumbled over the word) with Luke, but he didn’t want Luke to think that he had died. Or worse, that he was ignoring him. That thought won out in the end, and with a heavy sigh that gained looks from his companions, he answered. The small hologram lit the cockpit blue.

“Oh good, I was starting to think you were avoiding me.” The holo greeted. _Whoops._

“Oh yeah, I’ve somehow ended up in another galaxy, just to avoid you, specifically.” It was obvious Luke wasn’t being serious, so why not answer a joke with a joke.

“Well, in that case! I suppose I’ll just have to go find some other handsome single dad who has a kid in need of training.” _Handsome_. Din was suddenly very aware of the other two Mandalorians occupying his space. Luke continued on like it was nothing.

“In all seriousness though, I was wondering if now would be a good time to stop by for a few days? I wouldn’t want Grogu neglecting his studies,” he laughed, “usually I’d just track you two down, but either he’s too far away for me to sense him or he’s getting better at hiding it. Pity you don’t have a huge tracking beacon anymore.”

As much as he wanted to drop everything and go visit with the Jedi, Din doubted he could justify delaying his mission while he fucked around.

The memory of the peace he’d felt in that clearing, of Luke lit up by firelight laughing, came unbidden to his mind, but right now he had actual responsibilities to others besides him and his own.

“I’m in the middle of something right now. What are your coordinates? If you’re nearby, I could just drop the kid off with you?” He said. A flash of what Din thought was disappointment crossed the other man’s face, but it was gone before Din was sure. He might have imagined it, but then again, Luke had a decent poker face.

***

When the call was ended, Din entered his new coordinates.

“It’ll be a quick detour, any problems?” He said to his companions. When neither of them responded, he turned to look over his shoulder, only to be met with two sets of raised eyebrows. He turned back around, sighing to himself.

“What the hell was that?” Cin-Ro, who had her helmet perched precariously on her knee, started. “I didn’t realize you were seeing someone!” Her partner stayed silent.

“It’s not like that. He’s training Grogu. We’re friends.” Friends was a good, safe label to settle on, despite the way Din knew his heart sped up whenever he saw Luke (even as a holo). For this comment, he received _looks_.

“Sure. He’s cute. Why hasn’t he been round?” The woman continued. Din almost regretted letting her join the mission. Not that he had much choice.

“It _would_ be easier to ‘train’ if he came to stay with you.” The other Mandalorian, Aaki, cut in, agreeing with her, “He looks vaguely familiar.”

“He’s a Jedi.” Din said blankly.

He hadn’t consciously decided not to mention Luke or his status, but based on the looks he was now getting, he was glad he hadn’t. He wasn’t completely sure what the conflict between Jedi and Mandalorians was about, but he had heard mention of it here and there. He hadn’t wanted to start anything. He finally found a place where Grogu could be safe and stable and cared for, and he hadn’t wanted to jeopardize that based on some unknown conflict Bo-Katan had briefly mentioned. Not until he was sure about where he stood.

“A Jedi?! How do you even know a Jedi!”

“He’s trustworthy.” This was going to be a long journey. Long in a different way than his last trip with Cara had been.

“What? No, he’s- Wait, he’s training your son?” This was not going well. He should’ve expected the topic of Jedi would come up, should’ve prepared for collateral damage.

“Yes.” He snapped, firmly. Damage control, unfortunately, wasn’t in Din’s skillset, and this really wasn’t a conversation he wanted to be having, but he had to put his foot down. He wasn’t about to let them bring Grogu into this. While he usually kept to himself, his strange green son was well known (and well loved) in the community. Last thing he wanted was to have to tear Grogu away from a new home because they didn’t like what he was, what he was destined for. He couldn’t do that to him. Din could handle it, and before, he wouldn’t have cared how this impacted their opinions of him. But he had people to take care of now. Grogu was a child, and would be for quite some time, and Din didn’t want to bring him any more pain. And now, looks of distrust were measured right at him, exactly what he didn’t want.

“I thought all the Jedi were dead.” Aaki spat.

Din found he didn’t much like the concept of a dead Luke Skywalker, and shot what he hoped was a look of warning at his companion.

They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.

***

By the time they made Din’s detour rendezvous, the atmosphere in the _Razor Crest_ hadn’t become any less tense. Din almost wished they’d go back to teasing him. Oh well.

He scooped up Grogu, waking him gently.

“Hey kid, you’re gonna go hang out with Luke for a while.”

Grogu cooed sleepily with delight, reaching his hands up towards him.

Din noticed that the other two followed him, but didn’t comment on it. They were just going to have to deal with it.

If Luke meant any harm, he would’ve had more than enough time to do it. The Jedi didn’t seem the type for the long con, and certainly stood nothing to gain from it.

Speaking of-

Luke was there waiting for him, looking as good as ever, despite his noisy droid persistently at his side.

“Hi.” Luke smiled. Stars, Din had missed him. Much more than he thought he would.

“Hi.” He said back. He hoped he wasn’t staring too obviously.

“And hello to you.” Luke let his attention be diverted towards the child in Din’s arms, who was reaching towards him with grabby hands. Din handed him over – he knew better than to wait for him to start squirming.

“You’ve been busy, then?” Luke’s attention was back on him, though he absent mindedly let Grogu play with his free hand.

“Probably not as busy as a space General.”

“Oh yes, definitely. I certainly haven’t spent an unusual amount of time trying to track you down or anything weird like that.” He joked.

“Some things came up.” Din said.

“Well, I can’t wait for next time when you tell me all about it.”

“Deal, _your Highness._ ”

“I told you-”

“I know, I know.” Din surrendered, teasingly.

They held each other’s gaze for a moment, and Din swore that it lasted an eternity. He couldn’t wait for next time. Luke broke the silence, though.

“By the way,” he started, looking past Din’s shoulder, “what did I do to your buddies over there? I can feel the animosity from here.” Din was abruptly reminded they had company.

“Them? They’re just in a bad mood.” Din brushed it off. They could talk about it another time. He spent another moment taking in Luke, standing there bemused, holding his son.

“Hey, I’ll see you soon?” The other man inquired.

Din nodded.

“Soon.”

***

As he took off, the cockpit was still silent. Din hoped he hadn’t managed to ruin the easy camaraderie he had with the two other Mandalorians. If so, missions were about to get way more awkward.

“So,” Cin-Ro started, more hesitant than she ever sounded, “you really trust him with your son?” Din supposed he did have a reputation; he did tend to be very protective of Grogu. He wondered what was going through their heads.

“Absolutely.”


End file.
